Hamas releases hostage

Hamas announces it plans to release a living American hostage and four bodies. Hamas didn't specify if the four dead hostages were American-Israeli.

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World News

March 14, 2025 - 2:12 PM

Palestinian Hamas militants gather at the site of the handing over of the bodies of four Israeli hostages in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza on Feb. 20, 2025. Hamas handed over the bodies of four hostages on February 20, including those of the Bibas family, who have become symbols of the hostage crisis that has gripped Israel since the Gaza war broke out. The transfer of the bodies is the first such handover of remains by Hamas since its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel triggered the war. Photo by Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Hamas said it was ready to release a living American hostage and four bodies, though it was unclear if the U.S. and Israeli governments sought such a move and whether they would accept it unconditionally.

The Palestinian militant group has agreed to “release Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, who holds American citizenship, in addition to the bodies of four other dual nationals,” it said in a statement on Friday.

“The movement affirms its complete readiness to begin negotiations” about a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Hamas said.

Hamas didn’t specify if the four dead hostages were American-Israeli. The main Israeli forum for the hostages’ families said there are that number of deceased American-Israeli captives in Gaza.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has said that getting Alexander released is a priority. The White House insisted it would not seek a deal favoring Alexander over the other hostages still held in Gaza.

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